CLARK REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY 9-1-1  -  Emergency Preparedness  -  Emergency Medical Services

      Appendix 3: Detailed Findings

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Summary: The level of cooperation and information sharing among participants was rated highly overall. The simulation and control of the exercise proceeded smoothly, and many participants rated this as their best ECC exercise/learning experience yet.

Some participants felt that given the level of flooding simulated, the overall impacts seemed to be light and resources were not overwhelmed. It was noted, however, that by design the exercise intentionally did not include all emergent aspects of a major flood (such as coordination of volunteer sandbaggers). The purpose of the exercise was to focus learning and testing around the stated objectives.

The level of cooperation and information sharing in the ECC was excellent. Some participants were reluctant to interject opinions or ask questions that needed to be asked. The post-exercise debrief pointed out the importance of assertiveness in bringing up alternative viewpoints, questioning information that seems incorrect, or actively seeking the answers to questions that no one else seems to be pursuing.

Staffing

Summary: Many agencies conducted a shift change and briefing in mid-exercise to rotate more personnel through the ECC exercise.  The Operations Section was understaffed due to uncontrollable external events. Several participants remarked on how exhausting it was to work in the ECC under pressure for even their short shift.

Staffing coverage for most positions in the ECC still appears to be minimal. More cadre members and more layers of redundancy in staffing plans should be considered. Although the exercise was only five hours long, and several agencies conducted shift changes to test that function, many staff were still exhausted at the end. It emphasized the importance of reliable shift relief plans, and has caused some agencies to rethink their shift length.

During ECC operations, it was noted that when individuals had to leave their posts they did not initially think to have someone else cover their phone for a few minutes. By the end of the exercise, though, all exercise participants had established positive working relationships with their adjacent partners and had resolved the problem of phone coverage.

ECC Reception did an excellent job of admitting only pre-authorized personnel, and tracking all entrances and exits to the ECC. Identification badges have not yet been produced for all ECC-trained personnel. This would make the reception job easier.

Training

Summary: The preparatory training covered overall ECC organization, but some participants still were confused about roles of the different sections.  Several players recommended more hands-on, nuts-and-bolts ECC skills training.

The preparatory training covered what was likely to come up during an ECC activation, and the exercise applied and strengthened the lessons while uncovering weaknesses in the system. Although the preparatory trainings covered overall workings of the ECC, many participants felt it needed to focus more on the nuts and bolts skills of working in the ECC, such as message forms, routing, locating files, etc. Many were unclear as to the specifics of what the different section chiefs supervised. It would be helpful to have a listing of who exactly is in the ECC and a clear delineation of their roles and responsibilities.

ECC Systems

Summary:  The phone-line layout on the floor was complex and time-consuming to set up.  Some equipment problems frustrated participants, but other resources were utilized and operations were not comprised. The available computer resources were not adequate to provide computer access to everyone who could have benefited from it.

Telephone reconfiguration is necessary if the current ECC layout is maintained.   Wires crisscrossed the floor and required extensive taping to prevent tripping hazards.  Some phone lines were just barely long enough to reach their designated outlets. Two telephones were not working during the exercise. One was known to be non-functional prior to the exercise, and one was discovered during the exercise.   The personnel assigned to that phone simply used an adjacent phone instead.

Computer resources were not adequate to cover every section or every representative that felt they could have benefited from a computer. There are not presently enough computer hookups to allow all staff to connect their laptops.  Not all agency representatives would have had access to a laptop even if a port were provided.   Hydrology staff brought their own computer hard drive with their technical software, but it was cumbersome to move and set up.

The Operations section could have benefited greatly from a live view of CAD to allow them to better track resources.  The finance/purchasing personnel who staffed the logistics system did not have access to their vendor records because they did not have a laptop.

The PIO section found themselves limited by some computer and printer sharing problems. Sharing the printer with the dispatch liaison created some problems, with PIO data accidentally coming out on the pre-printed CAD summary forms. The Xpedite broadcast fax system, although an excellent resource when available, has occasionally been found to have internet accessibility problems.  This was detected in recent testing prior to the exercise, and in one instance was not functional for one of the news releases.  The news release was sent by the manual back up fax system instead. 

Operations

Summary:  The roundtable format worked as designed, and greatly enhanced information sharing and cooperation among the operations team. Staff substitutions and absences placed many unfamiliar responsibilities on the Operations Section Chief. The absence of fire-department expertise in Ops, and the lack of an incident action plan made it difficult to evaluate certain expected actions for resource management.

The roundtable configuration was very successful in encouraging cooperation and resource-sharing among members of the Operations section. The school representative’s presence highlighted the use of the school position for providing information about schools and gathering intelligence about roads, neighborhoods, damage and other disaster impacts. C-Tran and the schools worked cooperatively to meet transportation needs. The hospital and Health Department interacted positively with one another and with the PIOs to share information and get necessary instructions out to the public.

The public works representatives made impressive use of their laptop, but most agencies did not have or utilize laptops.  Law enforcement and fire representatives did not have access to live CAD views within the ECC, which left them without information on real-time field activities and resource allocations.

Due to an unforeseen staffing shortage, the Operations section chief position was not filled by a field-oriented public safety representative, as is usually the case, and the incident action plan/incident priorities were not developed. This was not an evaluation point in the exercise, but the lack of a formal plan made it difficult to assess the related resource management objective of resource procurement prioritization. Operations did appropriately refer urgent unmet resource needs to Logistics, however.

Shelter locations were delayed in making it to the whiteboard, in part due to the Red Cross absence (pulled into a real event) during the first portion of the exercise. Once they arrived, the shelters were posted promptly. The shelter locations initially were not tied to geographic areas, but this was corrected later. It was noted that some schools were tapped for shelter locations, but that there are no pre-existing MOU’s between those schools and emergency management.  

Resource Management

Summary: Resource management staff utilized resource directories correctly, though they were found to be inadequate.   Purchasing staff determined that it would be important to have their own vendor lists available, but without a laptop they were unable to access them to complete the purchasing process.

The resource information lists were found to contain out-of-date information, a chronic problem with printed directories. The current telephone directories in the ECC were for Portland, as additional Clark County books had not yet been ordered for the ECC. Procurement processes were not simulated completely. Logistics staff indicated that computer access to their own current vendor lists would have been extremely helpful. The ECC did not have a dedicated computer for their use, however, and staff did not have a laptop with them. 

Due to the lack of an incident action plan, the evaluation of some resource management functions (prioritization of requests to fit with the plan)  was not completed.

Planning

Summary: Planning section staff were stretched very thin trying manage all the information.  Plans did an excellent job of identifying and obtaining needed information from technical resources in the ECC and incorporating it into their planning. Planning was surprised by the time it took to generate technical information and maps needed for planning.

The relatively slow start  to the exercise, using a flood prediction scenario rather than full scale disaster at the beginning, allowed Planning staff to familiarize themselves with the resources and information sources available to them. The Planning Section coordinated the technical advisors and resources within the ECC and transmitted information to the Operations Section and the ECC Manager.  The information took some time to generate, but when incorporated into event and resource management, enhanced the overall ECC management of the event.

The current Planning Section staffing contingent is thin, and needs to be augmented.   Under the current system two message controllers are barely able to keep up with the information flow, and in some cases there were delays in getting information posted to the whiteboard.  The limited number of whiteboard display processing staff also contributed to delays.

Technical Information

Summary: GIS, hydrology, ARES/RACES river monitor readings, and interaction with PacifiCorp representatives injected an additional and stimulating layer of realism into the exercise.  Some simulated data did not correlate with "real-world" findings. Hydrology models were less than optimal for this type of prediction.  Printing for GIS was slow, and maps were small and not distributed to everyone who might have benefited from them. These discoveries will enhance future modeling and treatment of real flooding situations.

The technical advisors present for the exercise served as both simulators and players. GIS and hydrology experts collected information and utilized computer programs to generate predictions or graphic portrayals of the emergency. GIS created maps and population estimates for evacuation zones. Hydrology predicted river levels for the long-range planning portion of the exercise. ARES/RACES volunteers monitored the remote river sensors and fielded simulated radio reports from amateur radio operators regarding other stream levels.

The information generated by these technical personnel was regarded as extremely valuable by the Planning and Operations sections. The sections were also surprised by the amount of time it takes to produce the results and reports.

This exercise pointed out the absence of available flood-stage/flood-impact correlations. The ECC relies on scanty historic and anecdotal information. Current hydrology models, although they did work, were found to be cumbersome and relatively poor predictor and there may be better ways to produce the information. 

GIS noted that plotting a single elevation value to determine inundation areas for the entire county is not realistic or useful, as different areas with different elevations are not accurately represented. Mapping for different drainage basins and river zones would need to be modified. Maps were not seen by all participants, though, and others besides law enforcement and fire indicated that they would have found this resource helpful as well. This is a resource which needs to be utilized more within the ECC. 

Our technical understanding of flooding has been greatly enhanced by this exercise, as has our awareness of available flood management resources. 

Communications

Summary:  Overall, communications were accurate and managed promptly and courteously.  The microphone briefings by the ECC Manager were extremely valuable. The message form and delivery system is cumbersome and often fails to communicate important information.  The whiteboard posting system has multiple difficulties. Situation reporting was difficult due to the orientation of the computer to the whiteboard. Call-taking and dispatch are at opposite ends of the room, inhibiting information coordination between them.

• Messaging Systems

Multiple problems with the current messaging system were identified. The forms are relatively complex, with multiple fields, some of which were not completed, particularly the time field for when the message was taken.  This is important information for posting to the whiteboard and for maintaining documentation of event chronology. ARES/RACES found it confusing to use the ECC forms in addition to or instead of their radio forms. In many cases, a simpler phone-message slip might have sufficed for certain incoming phone-calls.

Message runners cannot easily identify priority messages waiting in out-boxes, and priority messages likewise do not stand out for processing by the Message Controller or the message recipient. Another difficulty is that sometimes multiple recipients should receive the same message simultaneously so they can coordinate actions. This is not easily done with the current message delivery system. Message runners can deliver a form to only one person.  A "forwarding" procedure for messages allows only for sequential rather than simultaneous processing.

• Call-taking/Dispatch Liaison

Call-takers were frequently bogged down in completing the forms, and did not always get complete information from the callers onto the form.This made follow-up more difficult later on, particularly if no callback number was obtained. In some cases, the simulators deliberately rushed the calltakers to challenge them to aggressively request the needed information.

There was some role confusion between dispatch liaison and call-takers. The physical distance between the dispatch position and the call-takers made it difficult to coordinate and oversee information.

• Whiteboard

Problems were noted with accessibility, readability, timeliness, level of detail,  obsolete information, and that there is no reliable record of what was actually posted.

Regarding timeliness of postings, shelter-related calls were being fielded for a time by the Operations Section Chief (due to the delayed arrival of Red Cross representatives) but  information was not posted to the whiteboard until after Red Cross arrived. This was due to the Operations Chief being overwhelmed with other duties.  When messages backed up at the Message Controller position those postings were delayed as well.

There is no posting system to track work items in progress. Other ECC staff have no way to know what else is being processed at that time other than what is occurring at their own table.

Whiteboard notations were impossible to read from a distance, particularly with the red markers.  Partway into the exercise one staff member took away  the red pens, forcing the use of the more visible colors.  The writing on the board was also very small and therefore difficult to read at a distance.  Even with a scenario that was fairly light in terms of postings, the main board was full, and larger lettering was not possible.  Unless postings were made on the high-middle of the boards, the view was obscured by ECC staff, and yet only a very few people were tall enough to reach the top of the boards while utilizing the stepstool.  Only one stepstool is available in the ECC.

Events are traditionally posted chronologically; the more significant events or established incident priorities do not stand out from the other postings. Obsolete information remained on the board for quite some time before it was removed. No method exists for determining when a posting should be removed; the only record of a whiteboard posting is the written message copy. Some kind of record of the actual postings would be helpful.

• Briefings

Several positive comments were received from external emergency management personnel regarding the use of the ECC microphone for important briefings to all ECC staff. The ECC manager provided thorough and frequent event overviews, and announced critical events immediately to keep all staff informed.  Not all staff stopped what they were doing during the briefings, however.  The ECC Manager also pulled together good briefings and strategic planning meetings for the Section Chiefs.

Public Information

Summary:  The section performed very well, and the exercise gave good ECC experience to several new PIOs. The PIO staff very smoothly managed a surprise drop-in visit by the television media.   They created and distributed frequent news releases.  The coordination between various agencies and the PIO staff was good.  Lack of priority flagging of information led to confusion about news release content.

The number of incoming phone calls to PIO staff seemed unrealistically low to some PIO participants, but this was part of the exercise design to focus attention on internal information coordination. Southwest Washington Medical Center, Southwest Washington Health District, and the Educational Service District #112 all had stated a desire to have their representatives coordinate public information with the ECC PIOs. The positive interactions that resulted seem to indicate that at least with the cooperating agencies, joint information releases and a single point of contact within the ECC worked well to provide consistent coordinated messages to the media and to the public.

The surprise drop-in by a TV camera crew requesting interviewees was managed extremely smoothly by the PIO in charge. During exercise design it was thought that the PIOs would be too busy to manage the unannounced media presence and would simply politely schedule them for a briefing later. The PIOs exceeded expectations and pulled together a thorough media briefing for the requesting crew without any lapse in phone coverage or news release production. They did this in spite of it occurring during a time-sensitive, high-stress moment in the exercise, and while utilizing new PIOs with no ECC experience.

News release content varied. Some news releases did not contain as much information as possible from the other agencies present in the room, but no formal JIC was established and this was not an expectation of the exercise design team.  In at least one instance, incorrect information was sent and then had to be corrected due to not checking the facts with the affected agency first. It was noted, however that as the public information working relationships developed in the ECC, the later releases began encompassing more information from all agencies and were highly accurate.  The inclusion of fact sheets were helpful. Some information included was vague or disjointed (road closures), although this was the fault of exercise design in not anticipating the level of detail required by the PIOs. Some releases, although accurate communicating a fact, included information that was minor and possibly distracting from major points.   Overall, though, the news releases contained excellent summary information, and represented a very good effort and sifting and condensing  the massive amounts of information.

Most ECC staff, except for the PIO and ECC management/section chief level, did not ever see a news release.  It is not current procedure to distribute them to all staff.  It was noted, however, that the news release was probably the best summary of  information for all staff had they received a copy.

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For further information/discussion on this report, please call (360) 737-1911 to speak with Deborah Needham (Ext. 3962) or John Wheeler (Ext. 3941) at Clark Regional Communications Agency. E-mail comments to deborah.needham@co.clark.wa.us. Click here to view the main web page.